


The Week the Defenders Found Out

by AlyssaSophia



Category: Daredevil (TV), Jessica Jones (TV), The Defenders (Marvel TV)
Genre: 5 + 1 ish, Danny and Colleen are adorable, Danny might be right (for once), F/M, Jess and Matt sucking at keeping it a secret, cannon compliant i think, cause its the defenders (its not loads though), except this whole thing didnt happen but you know, its a week of discoveries, oh yeah and theres cussing, pretty much fluff, this whole relationship thing i mean
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-05
Updated: 2018-08-22
Packaged: 2019-06-22 00:31:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15569790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlyssaSophia/pseuds/AlyssaSophia
Summary: Jessica and Matthew are in a relationship of sorts, it’s hard to define not to mention its a secret. It’s a big week for Jess and Matt, starting with one incident on Monday, by Friday all their friends are suspicious. On Saturday they make a decision.ORThe five times the Defenders suspected Jess and Matt were dating and the one time they were told (sort of). It’s been a long week.





	1. Monday (Luke), in which two PI's becomes two PI's and a lawyer

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! I wrote this because I'm obsessed with Jessica and Matt and this idea popped into my head and I had to write it down. I like to think about how Jess and Matt's friends would react to them dating, or the idea of it. This is Luke's chapter so it's from his point of view. I hope you like it and I love reviews!

Luke watches out for Jessica. Not because he thinks she needs protection or anything, the women can pack a punch, but because he knows that if he doesn’t she might go weeks without eating or sleeping or generally taking care of herself. Even though he wasn’t with Jessica anymore, he was stupidly happy with Claire, the protector of Harlem still felt the responsibility to be a caretaker of the alcoholic PI. She has Trish who makes sure she does those things, but even exuberant sisters filled with caffeine need a break sometimes, so Luke helps out. 

Luke likes to think he’s observant. He notices when Danny has had a fight with Colleen, to be fair, Danny isn’t particularly good at hiding his feelings, but he can also tell when Colleen is feeling angry or down after a spat, which is an achievement. He can tell when Claire is stressed out at work, or ticked off at something he or a fellow teammate has done. Even if she doesn’t talk to him about it, there’s just something about her that shifts. He knows when Matt is dealing with more cases than usual, his apartment is always a little messier than normal and there’s always a subtle hint of lawyer in his voice. Jess doesn’t change very often, she always exists in a state 'of something is a little wrong', as sad as that is. Because of that, he usually voices his observations to her. So even though Danny was the one who pushed for it, Jess was thrilled when he got his PI license. 

The first time he noticed that something was strange with Jess in regards to a certain lawyer named Matthew Murdock, was a clear Monday evening. Jess had been acting strangely, dare he say chipper (well, it was chipper for her standards) and he had wanted to talk about it, but he knew she wouldn’t see him just for that. So, he asked if she could help him out with a busting his latest client's husband for cheating. She hadn’t exactly believed his motives, but she agreed to come anyway. 

“Just to be clear, you’re asking me for help on an adultery case that's right in Harlem?” 

“Yes. Please?” 

“Luke, no offense, but that doesn’t sound very hard. Are you sure there’s not another reason you want me to come with you?” 

“I’m still new to this, Jess, I was just hoping you could come and give me some pointers.” 

“That’s bullshit.” 

“Believe what you want.” 

“I hate you.”

“No you don’t.” 

“...Fine. I’ll come, but you owe me. Text me the address.” 

So, Luke sat on a rooftop that had a clear view into the office of his client’s husband, Richard, where the supposed affair was taking place. Jessica was supposed to arrive any minute, but he didn’t expect her to be punctual. 

“Hey, Luke.” Luke turned around in surprise as it was a male voice that bared the greeting. To his shock, Daredevil was standing behind him on the roof, “Jessica’s not here yet, huh?” 

“Uh, no.” Luke answered, not shocked anymore, but confused, “Not to be rude, but what are you doing here, Matt?” 

“I asked him to come.” Ah there was Jess. She plopped down on the edge of the roof next to Luke and Matt sat on her other side, “I figured he could be useful, you know super sense of smell and stuff. Maybe he can smell the sex.” 

The visible part of Matt’s face cringed, “When I agreed to this you said perfume.”

“Yes and now that you’re here and it’s too late to leave, I can tell you the truth.”

“Who says I can’t leave?” 

“I do.”

“I don’t know, if I run you might be too drunk to catch me.” 

“Shut up.” 

Matt smiled and shook his head with a chuckle. Jessica shouldered him gently. For a split second Luke thought she was going to push him off the roof, but Matt barely moved. Interesting, the interaction was apparently simple banter, which was unusual for Jessica who usually had a bit more malice. He also can’t help but think that it was odd for Jess to bring Murdock with her. She usually worked alone, it was a rarity she agreed to work with him, but here Matt was. And Jessica was teasing him by taking random pictures as he demanded to know if they were embarrassing. The entire situation was just weird. She wasn’t like that with Danny, or Colleen, or Claire, or even him. It made Luke wonder what Matt did to get her to treat him like that. Was there something going on there? Neither of them had ever mentioned it, but he knew them and that didn’t mean anything. 

“Hey, Luke, is that your guy?” Jessica asked, snapping him free of this thoughts. 

Luke looked through the window of the building across the street. A tall, blonde man had entered the office. “Yeah. That’s him.” 

“There’s someone else behind the door.” Matt said, “It’s either a women or a very small man.” Indeed a moment later a women entered the office. They started speaking to each other, Luke was used to not hearing what they were saying and wished they would just kiss or something so he could get a picture and move on, but Murdock was still talking, “They’re flirting.” He said, “She’s asking if he wants to go to her place and he told her he can’t because he has to get home. She’s telling him his office is uncomfortable and he’s asking if it really matters. I’m not sure I like where this is going. She called some poor women named Emma a bitch.”

“That’s my client.” Luke said. Matt nodded.

“There’s more, but it’s just foreplay and trashing his wife. It’s kind of gross.” 

“Oh! They’re kissing.” Jessica cut in. She snapped several pictures and Luke did the same. 

“Okay,” Luke said, “that’s all I need. Emma will be happy to have some proof.”

“Do you think she’s going to divorce him?” Jessica asked. 

Luke nodded, “I hope so. She’s a good women. Doesn’t deserve that.” 

“Matt, you should offer to represent her.” Jessica said, sounding oddly excited. Matt had a big smile on his face. 

“Yeah. I definitely will.” 

“That’s great.” 

Now they were just smiling at each other, which was making Luke feel a bit like a the third wheel of some weird fucked up bike. He had no idea what was going on, but it was definitely out of what he would call ordinary, “We should get going.” he said, breaking into their little world of smiling. He made his way to the fire escape and started to climb down, the pair followed him. 

“That wasn’t as hard as you said.” Matt said to Jess. 

“You didn’t have to come.”

“Please, you practically begged.” 

There was no way, Jessica didn’t beg for anything, but Matt had never struck him as a liar. Why the hell would she want him to come so bad? Cage had a strong desire to do some digging, but he was certain neither of them would like that. 

Suddenly, Matt tensed. “Gun.” He said, “There’s men with guns three streets over. Two people are there, a man and a women.” 

With no hesitation Jessica said, “Let’s go.” The trio took off in a run, letting Matt lead the way. 

“They’re the next street over.” Matt said, “I’m going over the roof, that way we have people on each side.” 

Jess and Luke nodded and watched Daredevil climb up another fire escape before continuing on to the street. When they arrived the man and women were backed against a dumpster and four men were surrounding them. At first glance, two had guns and two had knives, but it was always possible there were more weapons hidden away. “Hey! Back off, morons.” Jessica called. In an instant, the two with guns had them trained on Cage and Jones and the two with knives pulled the man and women to their feet, putting them in headlocks. 

“Not the subtle attack I would have gone for.” Luke mumbled. 

Jessica shrugged, “Normally I’d agree, but now they’re all looking at us.” 

A second later, Daredevil dropped down behind the men with knives, he had the man and women away from them before anyway was able to so much as take a step. When the criminals came to their senses, they started shooting and Luke threw himself in front of Jess, taking the fire that came their way. Daredevil was doing okay on his own, he was busy in hand to hand combat with the other two. Apparently, the shooters were wise enough not to fire into a fight like that and risk shooting their partners. Matt was taking care of them, but the location of the fight trapped the man and women in the alley. 

It became clear that the bullets were doing nothing to Luke, so soon they had one gunman on each side. Cage was fighting to keep up and Jessica was trying to dodge bullets and advance on the shooters. Matt, who took care of the other two and joined the fight, only added to the chaos. Bullets started going everywhere, as the gunmen were otherwise too distracted to truly aim. A sharp shove from Jess sent Luke in front of the man and women they were rescuing to stop stray gunfire from hitting them. Her shove saved the man and women, but it put Jessica at risk. The only gunman still conscious was on the ground and fired a shot right at Jess’s head. 

“Jessica!” Matt yelled loudly. He dove for her, tackling her to the ground only a moment too late, Luke saw the bullet rip through her skin.

In a flash, Cage was on his feet incapacitating the final shooter. “Get out of here.” He told the man and women, “Call the police.” The frightened pair nodded and ran off. Luke turned his attention back to his friends. Matt had moved Jessica so she had her back against the brick wall and he was leaning over her. He was murmuring reassuring statements, but moving frantically. Luke could see the blood running from Jessica’s shoulder. He watched as Matt pulled Jessica’s jacket off and pushed her hair aside. He grabbed a knife off the ground and cut a strip of her jacket. 

“You’re ruining it, Murdock.” She mumbled. 

“I’ll buy you a new one.” He promised. He took the strips and pressed them onto her bleeding shoulder, he even managed to get her to lift her arm so that he could wrap around her torso. There was an awful lot of touching happening and necessary as it was, there was no way Jessica would let Luke touch her that much, but she wasn’t fighting Murdock at all, not even a little bit. And Murdock, holy shit did he look worried. Luke could see his worry all throughout his body, which was taunt like a rope. His voice was coming out thick and his breath was uneven. The man was genuinely terrified about Jessica. The scene was shocking, for a great number of reasons. 

Finally, Luke came to his senses, “Guys, we need to go. The police will be here in a minute.” Clearly not happy, but satisfied enough, Matt got up. Jessica tried to push herself up too. To her credit, she got to her feet, but when she tried to walk she moved terribly slowly and was clearly in pain. 

“You’re not doing that.” Matt said. In a swift motion he had Jess in his arms bridal style, she mumbled something to him, but didn’t struggle much before giving in, “Let’s go.” Daredevil said to Luke, who was just staring at them. He was certain that Jessica had never let anyone carry her like that willingly. Never. 

They got back to Jessica’s place and called Claire. She cleaned the wound and wrapped it with something better than a jacket. She told the boys that she’d be back the next day to check on her as none of them really knew how powerful her healing factor was (Jessica didn’t seem to know either, but she gave them a ballpark of two or three days). As they made their way to the door, Luke turned around to find Matt standing in the living room.

“You coming?” Claire asked, “She’s out for the night.” 

Matt shook his head, “You guys go ahead. I think I’ll stay here, just to make sure nothing happens overnight.” 

Claire gave Matt the same weird look Luke was sure he had had on his face all evening. Matt couldn't see it, but Claire's voice probably gave him an idea of what it looked like, “Alright. See you later, Matt.” 

“Goodnight, guys.” Matt said, turning to return to Jessica’s bedroom. Yeah, there was definitely something going on there, Luke just wasn’t one hundred percent sure what it was.


	2. Tuesday (Claire), in which the doctor has an unexpected guest in the living room

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Claire notices, Matt's not discreet and can't lie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Claire's chapter! Warning: some very questionable treatment of a gunshot wound, I am not a doctor.

Claire Temple has seen some weird shit. Her life is full of weird shit, so it takes a look to surprise her. She is dating someone bulletproof for fucks sake. There is a blind martyr on her couch regularly and The Immortal Iron Fist and his ninja girlfriend bring her dinner once a week. So yes, you could say that Claire’s life is weird, but that was part of what made it interesting. 

Claire would like to think that Matthew Murdock is incapable of surprising her. He had come to her with almost an injury imaginable. Anything you could do to a bone, he’d done. Broken ribs were a regular occurrence and she swore his body was held together by stitches at all times. Hell, the guy came back from the dead. It was hard to get much stranger than that. 

Matt’s death was a funny thing. Claire had felt so awful when he died. His funeral was like her own personal hell. She cried for two days straight, Luke wasn’t able to keep a shirt dry in that time. But when he came back, when she found out this huge part of her life wasn’t gone forever, she was furious with him. She wasn’t sure if she was truly mad, or just overwhelmed, but it felt like rage. She had been snippy and on edge around him. Matt, being the man he is, gave her the space she needed to come to terms with it and now it was like they were closer than ever. Luke was her rock through that time, letting her vent when she needed to and giving her alone time when she didn’t. Even when he left her to her thoughts he was never really gone. Always a mere phone call away. 

Luke had been a little cautious at first given her history with Matt. He was careful with PDA around the group, what he said and things like that. Claire knew that a small part of her would always belong to Matthew Murdock. Not in a romantic way, more like, hey you mean a shit ton to me and you’re one of the few people I’m this attached to so don’t die, okay? Luke understood that, he had a similar kind of thing with Jess. They both came to terms with their history within the team, and Luke made her happy. So it worked. He was bulletproof so there was less to worry about with him. 

That’s not to say that she didn’t worry, she did. She worried every time any of those superhumans were anywhere other than in her direct line of sight. But people needed them, New York needed them, and she wasn’t going to get mad at them for helping. What kind of person would that make her? So she patched up wound after wound after wound to get them back out on the streets again. Sometimes it was things she would have seen at the hospital, sometimes it was magic shit, superhero shit. With all the stuff that had happened to her in past year or so, she was immune to superhero shit. Yet somehow, what happened on Tuesday qualified as weird for her. But it wasn’t superhero stuff, it was Matt stuff. 

Jessica had been shot while out on a case with Luke and Matt. Claire had patched her up the night it happened, but the bullet went all the way through her arm, so she would definitely have to follow up with the wound. Claire had pullet bullet fragments out of her shoulder, it would heal, but it would take a while. Jessica had help from a healing factor, but even with it she was likely to need a few days. Jessica wasn’t like Matt, she didn’t get shot every third or fourth patrol. Hell, Jess barely patrolled. So, Claire visited to ensure that there was nothing too serious happening. 

When Claire arrived, she knocked lightly on Jessica’s door before walking in in case she was asleep. She was, in fact, asleep on the couch with the TV on low. Claire moved the bottle of whiskey on the coffee table and sat down in front of the PI, “Jessica?” She said softly, she learned long ago never to touch Jessica Jones without asking first, “Jessica?” She said, louder. 

In true Jessica fashion, she snorted and rolled over a little to far, landing on the floor with a thud, “What the hell?!” She screeched. 

“Hey, Jess.” 

“Temple,” She groaned, covering her face with hands, “what do you want?” 

Claire laughed, “Let’s check on that shoulder of yours.” Jessica mumbled something incoherent, but probably vulgar, as she pushed herself off the floor with her good arm. Claire got to work removing the bloody bandages, which weren’t actually as red as she thought they would be. The wound definitely looked better, which spoke to her healing factor, but it was still pretty open and needed to be cleaned, “You’re looking better, but I’m going to wash it and rewrap. The bleeding is less than I expected, the fabric is pretty clean.” 

“Murdock changed my bandages last night.” Jessica said, quietly. Oh. Claire’s first thought was that it was smart of Matt to do that, he had at least learned _something_ from her. Her second thought was that a few things were odd about that situation. It of course was strange that Matt felt comfortable enough to stay in Jessica’s apartment overnight (he knew what gave her her trauma), but Jess was also okay with Matt doing it, if she wasn’t she would have hit him indiscriminate of her shoulder. 

Claire and Luke had talked about the very situation as soon as they could the other night. They had to wait until they got to her apartment, where they were staying that night, due to Matt’s super hearing. 

“So Daredevil set up camp in the Jones residence.” Luke said, throwing his hoodie over the side of the couch. 

Claire nodded, “I know, weird right?”

“You’re telling me. Jessica only let me spend the night when we slept together.”

“I know Matt’s not sleeping with her.” She responded, glossing over Jessica and Luke. The comment didn’t make it awkward at all, but just because it didn’t matter didn’t mean they had to spend a lot of time talking about it. 

Luke raised an eyebrow, “How exactly do you know that?” 

“Because, Matt doesn’t just have sex with a girl. He looks like a womanizer but the man's a romantic. Well, a romantic with a thing for headstrong, vigilante chicks.” She added on again, “Except Karen Page, but she’s still got a pretty driven women vibe.” 

“So? Maybe he’s not just sleeping with her. Maybe they’re in a relationship.”

“If they were in a relationship, Matt wouldn’t have let her get shot.”

“Or he would have on accident, and that’s why he staying at her apartment.”

“I think it’s more likely he’s interested so he’s staying over at a time when she is in no position to yell at him.”

“Jess doesn’t care. She would come back from the dead if meant she could yell at someone who needed to be yelled at.” 

“So...you think Matt and Jess are a thing?” 

“I don’t know. You should have seen him when she got shot. He was terrified, Claire.” 

Matt would be terrified if any of them were shot, she was sure about that, but for Luke to point it out, for her boyfriend to remember the way Matt acted at that particular event, that meant something, “Well good for them if they are. But given how uncertain my life is, I'd like to be certain about this. Just keep an eye out. If we can be sure, we can ask them about it.” 

And so here Claire was, learning that Matthew ‘who cares about physical wellbeing?’ Murdock, had changed Jessica Jones’s bandages in the middle of the night. That could be proof. Claire wondered what Colleen, a voice of reason, would say if she were there. Probably some comment about how Matt was a saint in training and that wasn’t enough to go on. Right. That left her to stir in her queeries. 

A clear answer to any of them didn’t walk through the door, but the question did. Matthew Murdock stepped into Jessica’s apartment with bags on his arms and his cane folded up in his hand, “Hi, Claire.” He greeted as if it were the most normal thing in the world for him to just enter Jessica Jones’s living room. 

“Did you get it?” Jessica asked from the couch. 

He laughed, “Yes. Two bottles of whiskey, some fresh bandages, and microwave mac and cheese. That was it, right?” Matt walked behind the furniture and put the bag down next to her. 

“Perfect.” Jessica leaned over and grabbed a bottle of whiskey, easily popping the lid off with her hand. 

“You can’t drink both of these today.” Matt said, taking the other bottle away from her, “I’ll cut you off. Oh and do you want me to heat up the food?”

“Yes, please. I’m hungry.” No comment about being cut off. 

Matt smiled at her and walked to the kitchen with the mac and cheese container in hand. Claire continued to clean Jessica’s shoulder, but she was totally weirded out. The interaction before her was so bizarre. Matt was being sweet and Jessica was letting him. When Matt came back with the heated food, he put it on her lap and _kissed her head_. Holy shit. Claire’s hand slipped off the bandages she was wrapping and slammed into the couch cushions as they dropped. Jessica jumped.

“Whoa, you okay there, Temple?” 

Claire cleared her throat, “I, uh…” Since neither Jess nor Matt were acknowledging why him kissing her would be out of the ordinary, she assumed neither of them would like to be asked. They were both looking at her now. She knew she should let it go, she really did, but she also knew Matt could tell if she was lying. And since it was the second incident in the past twenty four hours, she decided she was just going to go for it, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to be careful, “It’s just nice to see you two caring for each other.” Ah, now they realized what she was getting at, it was written on each of their faces. 

“We’re not-” Matt started, but Jess cut him off,

“We’re not whatever he is going to say. Murdock here has a bad case of Catholic guilt about someone else’s bullet,” her tone told Claire she thought he was stupid, “and has decided he’s going to do my bidding until I heal.” 

“I see.” She said. Maybe it was legitimate, Matt would demand to help Jess if she was shot when he was around, but Jess didn’t let people demand things, she was still convinced the man wouldn’t be anywhere near her if she didn’t want him there. 

“Seriously, Claire. It’s nothing.” Right, Matt could tell if she was lying, “She gets to boss me around, I need a way to have some fun, that,” he gestured vaguely towards the black mess of hair on Jessica, “was just part of it.” 

She raised an eyebrow, “I’m raising my eyebrow, Matt, you kissed her head.” She may as well just say it at this point. 

“He thinks it throws me off guard.” Jessica said, “He’s a little shit.” That she couldn’t argue with. Matt had moved away from Jessica and back towards the kitchen, throwing his trash away, but Claire suspected he wanted some distance from the two girls. As much as she didn’t believe them, she was also pretty sure neither of them were going to admit anything. 

“You look good.” Claire said, dropping the subject, “But you are definitely not ready to be out punching people. Heal a little longer, okay?”

“I got her.” Matt assured, clearly not putting any more work into convincing her they weren’t a thing. Sometimes it seemed he just couldn’t help himself. 

Claire used all of her self restraint and nodded, “I have to go catch Luke, we’re going to lunch. See you guys later.” She brushed herself up and made her way to the door before either of them could yell at her for to many questions. Jessica and Matt bid her goodbye behind her. 

She couldn’t get the interactions she had with the pair off her mind as she walked home. Maybe they were a thing, they might work well together (though they were both clearly ungodly stubborn). Claire hadn’t noticed anything before, but to be fair she hadn’t really been looking. Apparently she was just going to have to see if they ever admitted it. The thought of the two of them happy together was nice until she remembered something. She groaned, damnit world, please don’t make her tell Danny he was right about something.


	3. Wednesday (Malcolm), in which the lawyer meets the neighbors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Malcolm finds an unexpected, but not unwelcome guest in Jessica's apartment. Maybe he can give the guy some advice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You'll notice that I changed the tags from Trish to Malcolm, originally I was going to write this with Trish, but I had a hard time with that. As I was writing this just felt better and more likely to happen with Malcolm so thats what it is. I know this chapter took a little longer than the first two chapters because I hit a minor block, but the next chapter is already written. It's Colleen and Danny :)

Jessica sucks at letting people care for her. Malcolm can tell you first hand. She gets angry and pushes people away. He can’t say much because he gets it, because if we’re being honest, he has it too. Not as bad as Jess, but with everything that’s happened in his life he really wants to be in a position where he’s self sufficient. But he and Jessica have been through a lot together and when people go through the same shit, they help each other get over it, that’s what AA is for. 

Jessica is an alcoholic, Malcolm can’t get her to quit, but it’s different for her than him. And in a way it works out, she drinks everything before he can even be tempted. He doesn’t support it, but he sure as hell can’t stop it. He _can_ convince her to go to anger management, but he’s learning that it doesn’t really help. He’s learning a lot about Jess since she made more superfriends, since she was forced to pull buried parts of herself out to save New York. Malcolm has never actually met any of the Defenders, with the exception of Luke, but that was under different circumstances. He had heard about them though. Jess, true to herself, didn’t tell many specific stories, more so the stupid things they had done or their annoying personality traits. 

Oddly enough, in the last few months Luke and IronFist hadn’t been the topic of her rants as much as a man named Matthew Murdock. Now, Malcolm knew who Matthew Murdock was, Hell’s Kitchen is not a big place, but he had never actually seen the guy, though the way Jess talked about him, he almost felt like he knew him. Admittedly, Matthew interested Malcolm. He knew Jess well enough to know when her disdain was half hearted or when her annoyance was mixed with genuine concern. Just because Jess might feel something for someone didn’t mean she was going to do anything about it, she needed help in that department, so Malcolm was incredibly anxious to meet this Matthew Murdock and make something of the guy. 

As it turns out, the chance would arise on a quiet Wednesday afternoon. Malcolm had woke up late and ate breakfast while frequently peaking into the hallway. He knew that Jessica had been shot a few days before. He missed her coming home, but he saw the blood in the elevator. In his rush to her apartment, he ran right into Luke with his hand holding Claire Temple’s 

“Sorry.” He said trying to push around them, but Luke grabbed his arm and Malcolm didn’t even bother to struggle. 

“Jessica was shot.” He told him. 

“Yeah, that’s where I’m going right now.”

“She’s in bed.” Claire said, “Someone’s in there with her, she’ll be fine, she just needs to rest.” Malcolm must have been doing a poor job of hiding his concern because she added, “Trust the doctor that makes sure these idiots don’t die. She’s taken on an army of ninjas, she’ll make it. I cleaned and wrapped the wound.” 

Finding out that she had been cared for relieved a little tension, “So she’s not bleeding out in there?”

“No.” Luke said, “She’s patched up and sleeping. You know that Claire’s good Malcolm, Jess will be fine.” It wasn’t that Malcolm didn’t trust Claire, he did, but Luke’s faith in her was grounding. Even if the feelings had changed, Malcolm knew that Luke was still fiercely protective of Jess, he wouldn't let her die. 

So Malcolm did as he was told, he left her alone to heal, but that didn’t mean he didn’t watch the hallway to make sure Claire came to check on her the next day. Wednesday however, she didn’t. Knowing Claire it was probably a good sign, but a lack of her presence gave him an excuse to go into Jessica’s apartment. He didn’t knock, he never did. He opened the door in a duck in case she swung at him, but she wasn’t even near the door, “Hey Jess!” He called, “I noticed that doctor hasn’t come by today, so I thought I’d stop in and…” Malcolm faded off as he noticed a man in the kitchen, looking up at him with an odd expression, “Oh. Uh, hello.” 

“Who are you?” the man asked, he spoke in a level tone, but his body language was familiar, it was the same as Jess right before she threw a punch. 

“Hey man, I’m not here for a fight. I’m Malcolm Ducasse, Jessica’s neighbor.” He put his hands up hoping the guy wouldn’t think he was a threat. 

The man instantly changed and returned to a more relaxed demeanor, “You can put your hands down, I’m not a cop.” Malcolm did as much, feeling a little foolish, “I’m Matthew Murdock.” Malcolm shook the extended hand. So this was Matthew Murdock. He had to admit, looking at him right now, it was hard to believe this was the guy in the devil mask. Sure he looked strong, he was packed with muscle, but the guy was _blind_. His eyes were unfocused, so much so Malcolm couldn’t believe he hadn’t noticed when he first saw him. Although, he seemed to function like he could see, he knew he had his hands up. With a start Malcolm realized that Matthew was _cooking_. He was cutting up vegetables and there was a pan on the stove in front of him, Malcolm would bet his life savings on the fact that Jessica had never once turned the burners on, but Murdock did. 

First, it was weird to think that Daredevil was cooking. Malcolm had had his suspicions about the whole vigilante thing because he didn’t really understand how Matthew’s type of blind worked, but at this point in his life, anything was possible. Second, Malcolm couldn’t help but note that he hadn’t noticed Matthew enter the apartment, which meant he had been there a while. He must be who had been staying with Jessica. The thought made him smirk a little, maybe this guy could give Jess the push she needed, “Everything okay?” Matthew asked him.

“Yeah, yeah,” Malcolm said quickly, “nice to meet you Matthew. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Matt is fine.” His face was suddenly more interested, “I assume you’ve heard from Jessica? She’s told me all about you too.” Malcolm nodded, feeling a little prideful at that. Jessica could play a good game, but she cared about him, “What has she said about me? Unless it's bad, then I probably don't want to know. Though, if it was too bad I’m not sure you’d still be talking to me.”

Not to keen to ponder that last bit, Malcolm shrugged, “A whole bunch of stuff. That you’re a lawyer, you’re blind, you’re a saint, a martyr,” Matt laughed at that, “that you died for a period of time,” It sort of slipped out before he had time to think about it. Matt’s laugh dissolved into a frown. It was true that Jessica’s talk about Matt had only gotten worse after he died. She was a wreck for weeks, drinking tripled and she didn’t want to talk to much of anyone. No matter how much that was true, Matt probably didn’t want to hear it, “and that you’re an idiot.” He said quickly, trying to cover. Matt smiled again, but it was smaller. 

Matt cleared his throat, “Well all but the saint thing sounds pretty true. Did she, uh, tell you anything else? About me?” 

Malcolm knew what he was digging for. He was extremely tempted to lie, but he remembered Jessica telling him that that would be pretty useless, “Uh, she told me that you’re...Daredevil.” 

Matt paused, then nodded and continued to cut vegetables, “Alright.” 

“You’re not mad?” Malcolm asked. He was glad he wasn’t, if he decided he had to do some shit like kill him Malcolm was, based on what Jessica had said, one hundred and ten percent sure he couldn’t take Matt if someone paid him billions. 

Matt shrugged, “I tell people I trust. I trust Jessica and she told you, so I trust you.” Malcolm felt a little honored, but couldn't help but that was a pretty risky mentality, he hoped the guy had really only told people he trusted, otherwise that could get out of control really quickly. 

“What has she told you about me?” He asked, hoping to move along, “I feel like I know all your secrets.” 

Matt laughed, “You don’t know all my secrets, Malcolm.” Alright, put that on the list of things that had happened in the last five minutes that scared him, “She speaks very highly of you. You are good for her, no matter how much she makes you want to, don’t give up her.” 

Malcolm felt a surge of determination, “I’m not going to leave her.” 

Matt nodded, “Good. I did, it was the worst thing I have ever done. And trust me, that’s saying something.” 

That didn’t sound like an invitation to talk about it, but Malcolm wasn’t a exactly a social butterfly and awkward conversation was better than awkward silence in his book. Plus, he was pretty convinced that Matt wasn’t going to hit him, “Yeah. She was pretty beat up when you, uh, died.” 

“I made a mistake.” Matt said, “I hurt her. And Luke, Danny, Claire, and several other people I care about. All that for someone I lost a long time ago, but thought I could save.” Malcolm was starting to regret bringing it up. Matt was clearly still beating himself up over it, his tone was so dark and stiff Malcolm felt awful, “I’m sorry if my mistakes affected you in any way.” 

Malcolm waved him away quickly, the guy didn’t need to apologize, “No it’s okay it didn’t. It’s just...I’ve never seen her like that over someone. Usually it’s just guilt, but it was like guilt and uh, greif I guess.” Matt looked like someone punched him in the stomach, “I’m sorry, I know that’s probably not something you wanted to hear. But you should know, since you’ve been back, she’s happier than I’ve ever seen her.” Malcolm found himself meaning that beyond just trying to make him feel better, Jessica really did seem better when she talked about Matt. Thankfully, Murdock’s lips curled up a bit. 

“Thank you, Malcolm.” He nodded. 

Before he had the chance to open another wound on the poor man, Jessica slammed through the door. Malcolm jumped, but Matt didn’t even flinch, “Oh, hey, Malcolm.” Jess said, as if his presence was the abnormal one, not Matt, which was curious. 

“Hey.” He said, “Were you working?” 

“You get shot, but the work doesn’t stop. I need some way to pay for my drinking habits.”

“Sucks.”

“Yeah. Someone want to tell my why people are so stupid?” 

“There’s no explanation for that.”

“Hungry?” Matt offered as she made her way over to him. 

“Yes.” She said reaching over and plucking out a bit of what appeared to be chili from the pan, “God, Matt,” she groaned, “if you keep cooking like this I’m never going to let you leave.” At her comment, there was something most wouldn't notice, but Malcolm was on the lookout for. Matt’s features altered slightly and he got a puppy dog look on his face, a sort of stupid smile. One he probably didn’t know he made, one Jessica wasn’t familiar enough with to notice, but Malcolm knew it. Claire wore it when she talked about Luke, Luke had it the other night, it was slight and hidden, but it was there. Malcolm was feeling a little giddy, maybe Jessica had a shot, maybe this guy she cared about cared about her too. 

“Well you seem all set, so I can just go.” Malcolm said, watching the pair eat out of the pan with spoons. 

“It’s okay, stay, I can get you a bowl.” Matt said. 

“Trust me, Ducasse, you want to eat this food.” 

Apparently neither were going to wait for an answer as Matt was already grabbing dishes and another spoon. He handed Malcolm a bowl and went to sit on the couch, Jess next to him, “How’s the shoulder?” Matt asked her. 

“Sore.”

“Let me see.” Matt put a gentle hand on her shoulder, shifting his body on the couch to face her best he could. 

She groaned, “Murdock, we did this last night. Plus, Malcolm is here and he’s awkward as it is.” Malcolm was not sure what they were talking about, but he was getting mildly concerned. 

“So? You admit that it helped.”

“I don’t recall doing that.” Jessica said with a strange lack of bite. 

“Well you could deny it, but I’d know if you lied.” Instead of answering, Jessica turned her back to Murdock, who carefully put his hands on her shoulder and started to massage it. Well Malcolm pretty much had a heart attack. That was a shit ton of touching for Jessica. For normal people it really was no big deal, but for Jessica, that was monumental trust. 

“Well, uh, thanks for the food. It was very good. I’m going to go now, let me know if you need anything, but it seems like you’re good.” Malcolm waved to them and made his way into the hall. A moment later, Matt was behind him.

“You left your hat. Jess asked me to bring it out to you.”

“Thanks.” Matt nodded and turned to leave, but Malcolm blurted, “Don’t give up on her either.” Murdock stopped and turned, clearly waiting for a little more, “Jess is bad at feelings and emotions and shit, just notice the little things. Don’t give up just because it’s not big and obvious. Jess is really great, all she needs sometimes is a little push.” 

Matt smiled the same stupid smile as before, but this time it was much more obvious, it was clear that this was amazing news to him, “Thank you, Malcolm. It was very nice to meet you.”

“You too.” Malcolm said. He watched Matt return to Jess’s apartment and grinned. This could be it. He’d be rooting for them.


	4. Thursday (Danny and Colleen), in which a double date doesn't occur

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny and Colleen run into some unexpected friends on their evening out. Snooping ensues and Danny is over the moon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 4! This chapter is two people at once, Danny and Colleen. I love them together so this was fun to write.

Danny and Colleen are the furthest thing from your average couple. For one thing, Danny is the Immortal IronFist and makes up one fourth of the Defenders. Colleen is one of the greatest fighters he knows and runs a dojo. So yeah, they’re pretty abnormal and usually they like it that way. They fight crime together at night and stitch each other up in the morning. It’s great, but sometimes it’s nice to have a night out. A night where all they do it eat dinner and talk. There’s no punching, yelling, or injuries of any kind to their person or someone else’s. Once a month, Danny and Colleen set aside a day to go out to dinner at a nice restaurant of Danny’s choosing (because Colleen was great, but wouldn’t know quality New York food if it hit her in the head). 

Colleen loved Danny’s date nights as much as he did, even if sometimes they did get interrupted by a call for help. The one thing about eating at expensive restaurants is that they were often targets for robberies. But what can you do? Danny, bless his heart, insisted on treating her once and a while. She learned a long time ago it was easier to just accept whatever he wanted to buy you than deny it, no matter how much you wanted too. It made him feel like he was caring for you. She would try to tell him he showed her that in more ways than he could possibly imagine, but that didn’t seem to stop him. 

So when date night came around that month and Colleen walked in in a long black dress with Danny’s arm around her, she was feeling amazing. It wasn’t that her Defender friends weren’t fun, but sometimes a little alone time was nice. Danny was different since they had come to New York too, a better different. He was more comfortable with everything, his life, his friends, himself. She loved seeing him so happy. 

Sometimes, they took Luke and Claire with them. It was nice to see them with each other, all of their lives could use a little more love. If anyone was proof of that it was the rest of their teammates. After her issues with Trish, Luke made more of an effort to be there for Jessica. Between Elektra and Karen, Claire was looking out for Matt. Colleen and Danny looked out for both of them. Colleen clicked with Jessica, the women could respect each other. Danny and Matt were vastly different in a lot of ways, but at the same time they were similar too. Both reckless and with strong desires to help. But Danny was an optimist and a visionary, where Matt was a realist with a martyr complex who knew the world needed him because everyone can’t be good. They had butt heads, especially at first, but the men had grown a bond. They were able to train together and a friendship built from there. It helped that Luke and Danny were a package deal, it meant they could share the work in convincing that Matt two friends wasn’t enough. Jessica and Matt needed people in their lives, it helped. 

In growing close to them Danny had decided, in a relatively middle school manner, that Jessica and Matt had a thing for each other. The the rest of the team thought he was delusional, but he held his ground. His evidence however, was fairly lacking, but he claimed it was the little things, stolen smiles and lingering looks. Colleen was not convinced, but he was the optimist. Jessica _had_ been destroyed when Matt died, they all had, but she basically became a hermit and when she did go out, she drank until she was ‘Jessica Drunk’, as Luke called it, and punched people. Still, Jessica used unhealthy coping mechanisms regularly. 

That week, Jessica had been shot. The team had been informed, along with the fact that Matthew Murdock would be at her house watching her if anyone needed him. Danny was overjoyed, so of course it was a topic as they made their way to date night, Danny claimed it was an appropriate time to talk about romance. 

“I don’t know, Danny. I’m not sure it’s romance. You know Murdock, the guy is so full of Catholic guilt he barely has room for his organs.” 

“Come on, Colleen, why can’t you admit that I might be right about this?”

“Because it’s dangerous to admit that you might be right about anything.” 

“But it could happen.”

Colleen sighed, “Fine, because it’s date night, yes, in theory, it could happen.” 

Danny smiled, “See? Was that so bad?” 

“I don’t know, are you going to get a big head?” 

“Doesn’t matter. You’d shut it down before that could happen.”

“Damn right.” 

They made their way to the restaurant, like usual, the place was nearly full. Almost every table was taken and the bar and dance floor were lively. It was a hot spot for anyone willing to spend a lot of money on food in Manhattan. Danny told the waiter their reservation and they followed her to their table.  
Danny pulled her chair out for her before sitting across from her, “Holy shit.” He breathed, Colleen tensed, was there really trouble already? “Is that Matt?”  
Colleen relaxed turned around to find that he was right. Matt was sitting a few tables down from them in front of a girl, “I’ll be damned. And he’s with someone.” 

“I didn’t think he was dating.” 

“Who is it? Anyone we know?” 

Danny looked at the women in front of his friend. She was small with pale skin. She was wearing a black dress with a low cut in the back. A new looking leather jacket was thrown on the back of her chair, but what really caught his eye was the grey scarf hanging around her neck, “Holy shit.” He said for the second time in two minutes, “That’s Jessica.” She was in a dress and her hair was pulled off her back in a sloppy updo, it was strange to see her in something other than jeans, but the jacket and scarf still made her Jessica. Last Danny had seen her she was at home recovering from a gunshot wound. He knew with her powers she would be mostly, if not totally, healed, but he wondered what the pair were doing at the restaurant. He knew that they could both probably afford it, but it wasn’t the crowd either usually ran with. 

Colleen twisted her body around again, Jessica Jones and Matthew Murdock were, in fact, sitting at a table for two several down from them, laughing, “Shit.” She said, please don’t make Danny right. Was it a date?, “Do you think they know we’re here?” 

“Nah.” Danny responded, “The one who can see has her back to us. Normally Matt would know, but this place is so crowded, he’d have to focus to pick us out exactly.” Danny smirked, “Besides, he seems pretty wrapped up in Jess.” 

Colleen rolled her eyes, Danny's obsession with the idea of the lawyer and the PI again. Although, he wasn’t wrong about Matt, his ‘gaze’ was pinned in Jessica’s orbit. He laughed again at something she said and Jessica flipped him off, which only made him laugh harder. No, it was unlikely Matt had realized his friends were a mere three tables away, “What do you think they’re doing here?”

Danny shrugged, “Let’s see if we can find out. Would you like to dance, Miss Wing?” Colleen took her boyfriend’s outstretched hand and let him pull her onto the dance floor with the countless other couples. Jessica and Matt sat right on the edge, so if they could get close enough without either noticing, they might be able to eavesdrop. She found herself excited, two of her favorite things, snooping a little bit and dancing with Danny. Being the Immortal IronFist, Danny had a lot of grace and he happened to be an excellent dancer. They swayed to the gentle music until they were close enough to hear their friends, making sure to stay behind Jessica. The crowd was so large, Matt probably still wouldn’t notice them as long as they didn’t do too much talking or anything to signal them out. 

“Our waiter likes you.” Matt was saying, “The dress must be something.”

“Don’t get your panties in a bunch, I’m not interested in our blushing waiter. And don’t get used to the dress, it was a demand by Claire. She came by to check on me after you and Malcolm left. Apparently, I would be going in jeans over her dead body.”

Matt laughed, “That sounds like Claire.”

“Tell me about it. I’m still wearing my scarf though, and my jacket.” 

“I told you I’d buy you a new one.”

“Yeah, you cut up mine.”

“To keep you from bleeding out. And if I hadn’t we wouldn’t be out tonight.”

“You know? A recovery dinner really wasn’t necessary. And what is this place? I’m surrounded by stuck up rich people.” 

“You could just say thank you. You deserve a nice dinner every once and a while, besides this liquor is great.” 

Jessica raised her glass, “I can’t disagree with you there.” They both took a swing of their drinks. 

The swing of the crowd forced Danny and Colleen to move around the floor out of ear shot if they didn’t want to stand out. Danny was feeling rather  
pleased, maybe his girlfriend would finally acknowledge that he might be right about Jess and Matt. He was a romantic at heart and didn’t miss the way Matt smiled at her or the way she stole glances at him she thought no one could see. They made sense in Danny’s mind. They were both pretty messed up and had some shitty experiences with love, he figured they might be able to make the other one feel better, broken parts and all. If they were lucky, they might even fix some of them. 

“You might be right.” Colleen said, much to Danny’s glee, “They seem to be having a pretty good time.”

“Luke told me that Matt didn’t leave Jess’s apartment the entire time she was healing, unless he was running her errands. He hasn’t spent more than an hour away from her since Monday.”

Colleen nodded, “And she’s letting him.” They both knew that was what sealed the deal on their suspicions. Jessica only someone hang around her that long if she wanted. Even Luke would have been kicked out if he stayed close to her for that amount of time, but here they were, eating and laughing without a hitch. Danny and Colleen came around again. 

“This is nice and all,” Jessica said, “and not that I’m not grateful, but tomorrow, take out is just fine.”

“So there’s dinner tomorrow?” Matt asked slyly.

“Shut up, you’ve brought food to my place for the last week, don’t make me say it, asshole.” 

“I like hearing you say stuff like that, makes me feel like you care.” 

“If that’s how I show you I care you might be in trouble.” 

“I’ll take what I can get.”

Again, Danny and Colleen were forced away, “They do sound really comfortable with each other.” Colleen admitted, “And it’s kind of cute.”

Danny chuckled, “I told you so. Let’s sit down, I’m hungry and we haven’t ordered anything yet. Whatever Jess is eating looks good.” 

The pair headed back to their table and gave the waiter their order, “You really think they could be together?” Colleen asked, “Matt and Jess? Like a couple?”

“I’m not sure what they are.” Danny confessed, “But there’s something there, you can just tell.” Danny saw movement above his girlfriend’s head, “They’re leaving. Don’t look.” he said when Colleen went to turn her head, “The door is behind me, Jess is going to turn around.” 

Colleen nodded and Danny eyed them over her shoulder. Jessica got up first, handing Matt his cane since he was supposed to be blind. When they passed their table to get out the door Matt would definitely pick them up since Jessica wasn’t causing ample distraction. Danny met Colleen’s eyes and asked her a stupid question about work to pretend they were talking about something else. The couple looked up at the sound of heavy boots halting at their table. 

“Mr. Rand, Miss Wing, have a nice evening.” Matthew Murdock’s voice came, in a low, conversational tone, “And do dance again, you seemed to be having fun.” Ah, so he did sense them. Danny could feel his cheeks reddening, Colleen had a faint blush on her cheeks as well. 

Jessica smirked as Matt started to move forward, her on his arm, “I know I’m a PI, but it’s really not good form to eavesdrop on your friends while they’re having dinner. Or at all.”

With that, the pair walked out the door and into the street. Danny let out a low whistle,“So I guess they knew.” 

“Do you think they planned that entire conversation to keep us interested?” Colleen asked. 

“I guess we’ll just have to see.” 

Jessica could cover something up like nobody’s business, but despite keeping a huge ass secret, Matt was never very good at lying. Yeah, they’d be watching their friends a little closer from now on.


	5. Friday (Foggy), in which there's a birthday on Saturday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Matt talked to Malcolm, now Jess talks to Foggy. Oh yeah, and it's right before Matt's birthday. Foggy's terrified.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 5! We're almost done. I gave Matt a chapter with one of Jessica's friends so here's Jessica with one of Matt's. Just out of curiosity, does anyone actually know Matt's birthday? Because I don't. As usual, I love your comments!

Sometimes Foggy has a hard time believing his life. Sometimes, he thinks he’ll wake up one day and the whole thing will have been one long dream. It’s not all the time, just those few monumental moments. When you’re little, monumental moments are things like finding out that Santa isn’t real or liking someone for the first time. As a college student, monumental moments are things like graduation or a genuine ‘I love you’. Foggy had never had a particularly high threshold for monumental moments, that was until he met Matthew Murdock. It didn’t happen right away, at first Matt was just your average blind, aspiring lawyer. Then he decided he was interested in pro bono stuff, which was fine too, except Foggy had to make sure he was still getting enough money to eat. 

Nelson had always known that Matt would need some help in maintaining himself, not even because he couldn’t see, the man put the entire world’s needs before his own and would satisfy them all if he could. Foggy knew that. But finding out that his best friend was Daredevil was not only monumental, but earth shattering. It was like the entire world had stopped and here was Matt, all in black, bleeding out on the floor, Foggy wanted to throw up.   
The fight also fit onto Foggy’s monumental moments list. It’s not a memory he looks back on fondly. Sometimes, he finds he remembers the taste of his words and the salt of his tears, it was like nothing he had ever known, like nothing he ever thought he would say to Matt. And it hurt. Everything about it had hurt for days on end. 

And then, and fucking then, Matt got himself mixed up with the official vigilante cult of New York and his crazy ex girlfriend who tried to kill them all, because what else would the next logical step be? So that’s also on the list, accepting Matt, Daredevil and all, as best as he could. It’s hard, to say it wasn’t would be one huge ass lie, but Foggy looks at Matthew Murdock and now he can see the martyr, the devil, and everything else swirling inside him, but he still sees his friend, and he’s not ready to let that go yet. 

He wasn’t ready to let Matt go when his superfriends all came back and he was missing from the line up. It was like a knife in heart, he remembers the salty taste then too. It was weird to taste wet tears in a dry mouth. The funeral was even worse, fuck closure, it opened so many more wounds. Foggy was angry and sad and just a mess, he couldn’t stop shaking. That was the first time he had really and truly spoken to any of the people who had actually seen the building collapse. It wasn’t long conversation, consultation mostly, no one really wanted to talk about it. Danny Rand was the only one to touch him, giving Foggy a hug. Luke Cage settled on a regretful look and a shared drink. And Jessica Jones, she couldn’t even look at him. All he saw were knots of black hair and the bottom of a whiskey bottle. 

Then he was back. Matthew Murdock was alive and Foggy was torn between hugging the man and punching his teeth in, because he was pretty sure Matt would let him do the latter. And they were back to square one of rebuilding a relationship, it wasn’t exactly a fight, but once again Matt started a war of emotions inside Foggy, and he needed to work them out. Of course, in the end he landed on his friend, no matter what that idiot did, Matt was Matt and Foggy couldn’t walk away from him. That moment was monumental, when Foggy got what most people could only hope for, an irreplaceable loss was restored. 

Matt is an enigma in the sense that, for someone who cares about other people so much, he is really shitty at relationships, of any type, but romantic specifically. They usually ended with both parties hurt, or in extreme cases, dead. And Foggy gets it because he goes through the same thing as a friend. Matt forgets that to some people, he is not expendable, he can’t always be okay with being collateral damage. Despite knowing all of that, Foggy is convinced there is someone out there that Matt can love in a way that will force him to be more careful once and awhile. Someone he is willing to take even just a little more caution for, not someone who wants him to stop, but someone who he’s willing to come home in one piece for. This person is surprisingly hard to find, Foggy knows, he’s tried, Matt rejects them all. 

By request of Matt, Foggy has attempted to bond with the Defenders. Murdock has decided Foggy should be part of everything in his life, which is just as well. Except Luke Cage and Jessica Jones are fucking scary. Danny Rand is basically a puppy, but Colleen Wing is terrifying. Foggy tries though, and it works out. He gives Rand and Wing legal advice from time to time and Luke and Claire are enjoyable company. He doesn’t see much of Jessica, who’s always a little buzzed and untruly. They hadn’t spoken more than a dozen sentences to each other until a day before Matt’s birthday. The most recent addition to the list of monumental events, an office invasion one Friday by none other than the PI herself. 

Heavy steps stomped through his office door as it slammed closed. Foggy’s head snapped up to Jessica in all her leather jacket and ripped jeans glory. He cleared his throat, “Hello.” He said, returning to his work, whatever she wanted, he knew she would be straightforward, no point in asking. 

“I need your help.” She sat down in a chair on the other side of his desk, putting her camera on it, making him think she came directly from a job, “Murdock has a birthday coming up, right?” 

“Yeah, tomorrow. Uh, may I ask why?” Foggy couldn’t fathom a single solid reason why Jessica would care about when Matt’s birthday was. 

“I have been thinking about it since Monday, when you get shot you have a lot of time on your hands,” she added in response to his raised eyebrow, “and I don’t know what the fuck to get him.” 

Foggy blinked, “You want my help buying a birthday gift for Matt?” 

“Yes.” She said firmly, “You know him best. This is the first time I’ve ever gotten him anything and I’d like it not to suck.” For a solid minute Foggy wasn’t sure what to do. Every interaction he had had with Jessica thus far suggested that this situation was completely out of the ordinary. It had been mentioned to him by Claire, that Danny thought she and Matt might have a thing for each other. Matt did talk about Jessica a lot, but Foggy had never really thought about it like that, Matt was a lawyer he could talk all day. Jessica went for guys like Luke, a stoic, reasonable, predictable man, there was no reason she’d take a wild card like Matt. And Matt, well actually Jessica was his type, headstrong and driven, “Don’t think about it too hard, Nelson, your brain might explode.” Jessica cut back into his thoughts, “Can you help me or not?” 

“Uh, yeah I guess so. What kind of thing were you looking for?” 

“I don’t know. Nothing to expensive, I have to be able to afford it. But I mean, what does he already have?” 

Foggy gave her a suspicious look, he was trying to shake the thought that she had ulterior motives for talking to him, she seemed genuine which was really strange. To be fair, she was a much better lair that Matt, “Do you want me to list everything he owns?” 

“God no, please don’t. Can you actually _do_ that?” 

Foggy shrugged, “Maybe. Uh, can I ask why you’re buying Matt a birthday gift?” 

“Because.” Foggy raised an eyebrow, “I don’t know, Nelson. It used to make me happiest when Trish made time for my birthday, he goes through a lot so I thought maybe celebrating for him would be nice.” Jessica was sounding much smaller than she had when she walked in, she shifted her weight back and forth, it was clearly and uncomfortable topic for her. Foggy remembered his best friend saying she had a hard time admitting she cared for people, or wanted them to be happy. And holy shit here she was, indirectly as it may be, saying Murdock was someone she cared about. Now he was heading down the rabbit hole, imagining if Jessica and Matt got together. He was a wild card, but Matt would be damn good to her. 

“How’s your arm?” He asked her, remembering that Matt had been at her place all week, “Matt taking good care of you?” 

She wasn’t looking at him anymore, instead playing with some of the things he had on his desk, “I’m feeling better, but he’s still full of Catholic guilt. Good news is, I don’t know where he learned to cook, but he’s fucking great at it.”

Foggy nodded. She didn’t dispute the fact that Matt was taking care of her. And there was no annoyance in her answer. He must be nearing the bottom of the rabbit hole now. The idea of a domestic situation for Matt made him smile. It could work, it could really work. There was enough differences from his other relationships. She clearly accepted the Daredevil part of him, something people like Karen, even though he loved her, had a hard time doing. She definitely wouldn’t put up with any of his shit. And despite her natural intimidating demeanor, he was pretty sure she wasn't going to kill them all. If she did they probably all deserved it. 

“I can see your brain short circuiting.” Jessica said bluntly, “Stop it. He’s a good friend, okay?” Her glare left no room for objection. 

Foggy cleared his throat, “Sorry.” Yeah, she was still scary as fuck. 

“Gift, Foggy, I need help with the gift.” 

“Right. Well, Matt wouldn’t want anything too big or impractical. He doesn’t care much about himself, but I’m pretty sure you knew that.” Jessica nodded, “I can keep talking, but if you really want it to be good it should come from you.”

“Ugh, I know.” She groaned, “I’m just bad at sentimental shit.” 

Foggy sighed, she was giving him the most needy look he had ever seen, despite it not being much. Damnit, now he really really wanted to help. He sighed, “Matt talks about you a lot.” He saw her blush ever so lightly, but her expression didn’t change, “He says he likes that you are a part of...both aspects of his life. He says you’re incredibly strong and smart and the best PI in New York. He speaks very highly of your character, despite the drinking. That’s what he thinks of you, you mean a lot to him, give him something that reminds him of that.” Now she really was blushing and not looking at him anymore. 

“I know what I’m going to get him.” She mumbled, “Thanks, Nelson.” Foggy would have smirked if he wasn’t afraid she would hit him, even with her ever so slightly more vulnerable state. 

“Okay. You’re welcome, I guess.” Jessica pushed herself up from her chair and grabbed the jacket she had discarded at some point in the conversation. Foggy was wondering something, “How did you get in by the way? To my office. I asked not to see any new clients until tomorrow.”

Jessica snorted, Foggy imagined Matt thought it was cute, he was the kind of person who would think that, “It’s funny that you think a few front desk people are going to stop me from going somewhere I want to go.” 

Foggy smiled, “You really want this gift to be good don’t you?”

“No shit.” She said, brushing the comment, which carried weight for her, off, “Oh and in case you didn’t know, if you ever tell him I was here I’ll punch you and trust me not even a Columbia education can help you defend yourself from that, just ask Murdock.” 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever, Jones. Now that I know you have a thing for Murdock I know you’re not going to rough me up to bad. I’m his best friend.” Untrue. Foggy was still petrified of Jessica Jones, the look she gave him did not help. But he was pretty sure she wasn’t going to beat him to a pulp a day before Matt’s birthday, a day after maybe, when she wasn’t trying to make him feel good. Yeah, he still had to tread lightly. 

“Shut up, Nelson." She warned, "I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

“Tomorrow?” 

“Yeah. We’re having a party for Matt on the roof of my place. Colleen’s cooking and Danny’s bringing alcohol so you know that’s the good shit. Relax with the face, Page and Temple are coming; it’s not going to be a bunch of ninjas going out and punching people. If it was I wouldn’t be going.” 

Foggy blinked a couple times, “Uh, okay.” Like he was with most things involving them, Matt was a little afraid of a party with Matt’s vigilante friends. But it was for Matt. That and Jessica’s tone was clear, she wasn’t asking him to come, she was demanding it. 

Jessica gave him another scary smirk and walked out, closing the door roughly behind her. So Jessica and Matt. That was a thing. How hadn’t he noticed? Had anyone else? Foggy picked up his phone, he wasted no time getting to the point with the person on the other end, “Hey Karen, I was wondering if you had a moment to talk about Matt and a women by the name of Jessica Jones?”


	6. Saturday, in which they admit (sort of) what everyone already knew

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An exciting end to a fun week. Jessica throws Matt a birthday party and might finally let him tell everyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoa, sorry for the slow update. Here’s the last chapter though! I decided to go with Jessica’s perspective. This was really fun to write and thank you so much to everyone who read and reviewed and did all that great stuff. The obsession is still going strong so I’m sure I’ll post again soon. Love you guys! - Alyssa

Jessica is a PI and is, in turn, and excellent liar, which is why the last week had been a little terrifying for her, well that and she got shot but that’s a different sort of terror. She and Matt had been, whatever you wanted to call it, for longer than she’d like to admit, starting with patrol together and working it’s way up to him bringing food to her apartment. She liked it, Matt was good at understanding her boundaries, but also pushing them just enough. It felt strangely healthy for her. They had been good at hiding it, partially thanks to having no label for it for the longest time (they still didn’t really agree on one), their hiding had gotten worse. He wanted to tell people, but she wasn’t sure she was ready, which he respected as much as he could. Jessica injured meant that Matt was around even more than usual and got careless with his affections. 

First it was Matt picking her up in front of Luke. Jessica knew that he suspected something when he hinted at it during a text conversation about the job she finished on Friday. If anyone was going to find out by simply noticing, Jessica would have wanted it to be Luke. She knew that they had both moved on since they were together, but that didn’t mean she wanted the long awkward conversation about a new relationship of sorts, especially one within the team. 

Claire definitely knew something was up, but Matt was pretty reckless with that one, she scolded him a bit after. Matt learned that spontaneous hand holding or putting his arm around her could make her tense, but for some reason a kiss on the head didn’t. Maybe it was because the motion was easy to escape, there was no grabbing or holding, simply light contact. He did it a lot. He either forgot Claire was there or didn’t care. Jessica gave him shit either way. In the end, she didn’t mind. Claire wasn’t going to gossip to anyone, she could respect it as theirs to share. 

Malcolm and Matt was a collision of worlds she had not been prepared for. She knew the two men had heard about each other but she didn’t expect them to be conversing in her kitchen when she got home. She wasn’t sure if her neighbor had anything to say about Murdock, he hadn’t said anything to her, but that didn’t mean much, he knew her better than that. 

Matt had picked up Danny and Colleen dancing around them in the restaurant. Jessica was a little nervous since she they had mentioned a few things that might make it sound like there was something there, and she just wasn’t ready to admit anything to them, it took her long enough to admit it to Matt and herself, let alone new friends. Plus it was going to take a lot of preparing to get ready for Danny’s reaction, which was sure to be over the top. Matt assured her it was fine, no matter what they heard, they didn’t have any proof; it wasn’t like they were going to kiss in the middle of the restaurant. Seeing their faces after being busted was a luxury she felt sorry Matt missed, but he assured her the heat in their cheeks and their heart rates were enough. 

Foggy. Foggy fucking knew, of course he fucking knew. Jessica wasn’t as subtle as she tried to be apparently. She didn’t expect nonchalance to be so hard, Nelson barely knew her, but whatever Matt was telling him about her usual behavior was accurate because he sure as hell knew something was up. She didn’t admit it exactly, but unfortunately she was sure he knew she was lying through her teeth. So fuck it, Foggy knows, what’s he going to do? Tell Matt? 

So somehow, their careful work in being secretive was starting to unravel, the past week was full of slip ups. Jessica had been thinking about telling people during Matt’s birthday. In addition to his other gift, she knew it would make him happy. Still, part of her was almost hoping to be confronted, that way she didn’t actually have to say it. 

Celebrating Matt’s birthday was her idea. The rooftop was Claire’s idea that Karen had supported it. Asking Karen what Matt would like to do for his birthday was awkward in itself, they had never really spoken before, but Page was surprisingly willing to help. Jessica suspected it was part of her whole ‘rebuilding a relationship’ thing. 

It was going to be hard to surprise him as soon as he got within three blocks of her apartment, but they could try. Collen, Danny, Claire, Luke, Karen, and Foggy were all gathered on the roof when Matt called to let Jessica know he was five minutes away. He thought they were going to get takeout at her place, so he’d meet her inside. 

“Hey.” She greeted when she opened the door. She was pleased he showed up in a T-shirt and jeans and not a suit like he did sometimes, she knew he’d want to be comfortable, “I was actually thinking we could go up to the roof. It’s a nice night.” Matt nodded and followed her out. If he could feel the people already up there, he didn’t say anything. 

They were bombarded with yelling the second Jessica opened the door to the rooftop. Matt was smiling like an idiot as everyone wrapped him in a huge group hug, one Jessica quickly avoided. 

When they finally let him go and he turned her direction, she shrugged, “Surprise.” 

“I’m going to hug you now.” She was thankful for the warning and didn’t bother to evade when he was in front of her in two strides and had his arms around her, “Thank you.” He whispered. 

She hit him lightly in the chest when he let her go, “Happy birthday, asshole.” He gave her a wide smile and she felt a warm feeling in her chest. She had made him really really fucking happy, and she loved it. Luke handed Matt a beer and Danny hugged him again. Each guest wished him a happy birthday. Shortly after they all returned to conversations among themselves. Matt wondered between them, Jessica was content to take a moment to sit and watch. 

Foggy approached her, “You did a great job.” 

“Thanks.” She responded, “I’m glad he acted like he didn’t know all of you were up here.” 

“He’s really happy, Jessica. This is great for him, he still feels like he has to keep Karen and I separate from his other friends, it’s nice that you got us all together.” Jessica nodded. “We should do gifts.” He said. 

That little shit, “You just want to know what I got him, don’t you?” 

He shrugged, “I plead the fifth.” 

“God, the lawyer shit.”

“No comment.”

“Damnit, fine.”

Matt was a little resistant to opening gifts, for some reason he was worried about making his birthday party about him. However, since everyone else was on board, he agreed. 

“Me first.” Colleen declared, dropping a rectangle package into Matt’s hands.

“You wrapped?” He asked, sounding amused, “You know I can’t see it anyway, right?” 

Colleen rolled her eyes, “It keeps the rest of us in suspense smart ass, open it up.” 

Matt opened the package to reveal a book, he ran his hands over it opening it and touching the pages, “Is this a cookbook?” He asked. 

Colleen smiled, “I’ve heard you make some really good food. This is the braille version of the book I used to cook back at home. I figured there’s some new things in there for you to try. 

Matt smiled, “Thank you.” 

Claire when next, handing him a bag. He pulled out something long and red, “It’s a tourniquet.” She explained, “But it’s designed to clip around like a belt. I figured you could add it to the armor so you’d always have it in case you needed one, it’s designed to be easy to use, easier than a homemade one at least.” Jessica couldn’t help but feel like Temple got the idea from last week's incident, though it wasn’t like Matt had never been shot before. 

Luke and Danny presented one gift they had gotten together. Matt pulled a black article of clothing out of the box he was handed.

“It was Luke’s idea.” Danny said, as Matt touched the fabric.

“But Danny helped pay for a large chuck of it.” Luke added. 

“Is this kevlar?” Matt asked. The other men nodded. Jessica knew the fabric, it was on the Daredevil suit, it was supposed to absorb impact. This particular shirt wasn’t bulky, but definitely looked thicker than his normal clothes.

“It’s something you can wear everyday.” Luke explained, “That way, if you ever need to move fast, or someone’s after you, you’ll have at least a little protection.”

“And,” Danny added, “I know you can’t see it, but there are also some red threads in the black so it fits right in with your whole Daredevil thing.” 

Karen and Foggy also worked together on a gift, handing Murdock an envelope, “It’s a coupon.” Foggy explained, “A completely paid for dinner for two at a nice restaurant just outside of town that Karen found.” 

“Who do I take to this?” Matt asked. Jessica had a feeling she knew the answer.

Karen shrugged, “We figured you might have someone in mind.” Jessica didn’t know how to feel about the smiles everyone was suddenly wearing. Matt held out the coupon, this time in her direction.

“Do you want to hold these so I don’t lose them?” He asked. She supposed it was his discreet way of assuring her he wanted her to come. The entire party probably saw right through him, but she took the envelope anyway. Jessica pulled her gift off the ground and handed it to him, it was the largest box. 

“A new suit jacket.” He decided, after feeling it for a moment. 

“Yeah.” She said, “I made some additions though.” She had enlisted a client, who happened to be a good seamstress, to sew golden spheres around the openings near the wrists in braille patterns. One side had Daredevil in braille all around it and the other had Murdock. She felt like something about her should be on there too, so she put the date they met, which she had used Misty Knight to find, on the top of the breast pocket. They looked decorative, but they would mean something to him, “I figured, Murdock and Daredevil, it’s both parts of you on one jacket. And the other thing...well I’ve always sort of been part of your double life, so it just...brings everything together.” She tried to get the explanation out in a way she felt comfortable with an audience, but still getting her point across. It was also her way of starting to admit it to her friends. 

Matt was smiling so wide she was pretty sure his face was going to crack, “Thank you, Jess, this is amazing.” He reached out and she knew what he wanted, but he was giving her a choice, like always. She gave him her hand trying not to think about it too much. She wasn’t really sure what to do because now they were just sitting there holding hands and everyone was watching them. Her entire life Jessica had learned that actions speak louder than words. It didn’t matter what the fuck people said, it mattered what they turned around and did. Nothing was true until you saw it. In that mentality, it was better to show her friends her and Matt aside from tell them. It was fucking scary, but really, that was the way to go. Matt wanted them to know, he would never push her, but he did, she knew. Once again, not thinking to much, Jessica leaned forward and pecked Matt’s lips gently. He made a surprised noise, but, somehow, smiled wider. 

Her friends were such dorks. They clapped. Like actually whooped and clapped like children, Danny started it of course. But for some reason she was okay with it. Danny turned the music up and everyone started dancing, well attempting to dance. Matt came up behind her, “Thank you.” He said again and she knew it wasn’t for the suit jacket. 

“Happy birthday.”

Matt gently rested his chin on her shoulder and she turned to watch the party again. Foggy and Karen were just making fools of themselves, Claire and Luke were trying to dance, but Danny and Colleen were the only ones who actually looked like they knew what they were doing. She wasn’t one to judge though, she didn’t dance at all.

“It’s been a long week hasn’t it?” Matt asked. 

“You can say that again.” 

“Would you like to dance with me?” He moved in front of her and offered his hand. Jessica’s first thought was hell no, but looking out at her friends having fun and then back at Matt, still smiling like an idiot, she couldn’t help but accept. 

“Just don’t step on my feet asshole.”

He laughed.


End file.
